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A look through the eyes of a naval architect

The superyacht industry is full of passionate professionals, particularly when it comes to naval architects and designers. From the point of sketching a design to seeing the finished vessel, it is clear just how much personality and thought is put into a customised luxury yacht. Yachting Pages, a leading provider of superyacht products and services interviewed Ashish Gupta, director of Beyond Design, designers of India’s first superyacht to find out more about the industry.….

The superyacht industry is full of passionate professionals, particularly when it comes to naval architects and designers.

What inspires you most when designing a yacht?

An owner's desires inspire me to create their vision, plus continuous improving technology is definitely a factor and most importantly, my passion for designing a luxury lifestyle marvel at sea.

Do you have any interesting stories to share from the past?

When I was first told about designing a yacht, I didn’t even know how to spell the word let alone what it was? When I first saw the hull of the 45 metre yacht I was about to design, my jaw dropped! Looking at the huge beautiful wooden hull, all I could think was, “I’m supposed to design the superstructure and interiors for this?!” Well, we designed India's only superyacht and we’re very proud of it.

What are the difficulties you face on a daily basis within yacht design?

The time it takes to have continuous meetings with potential clients. Unfortunately, in the end one out of 10 decides to go ahead with the idea of customising a yacht, or they may simply just buy a tender instead.

What is the average timeframe from concept to delivery to the owner?

As you can imagine, it’s very time consuming and it depends on the size of the yacht. The journey from concept to execution is very joyous for me and I can honestly say I love every bit of designing it.

What do you enjoy most about the job?

Well, I am an architect & yacht designer; I enjoy the challenges and the limitation of technical rules and regulations with which we have to design. I believe that without any challenge, design is boring and there is no uniqueness to it.